Sunday, November 28, 2010

Hey again! This might be one of the last updates you get from me while I'm here! Crazy! I wanted to tell everyone how God has been proving himself faithful over here and also a few more ways that you can be lifting us up before we go.

Many of you know that I had the equivalent of about $300 stolen from me about a week and a half ago. This money was part of the monthly stipend i get for being here. I use it for food, taxis, and other necessities, so it going missing was really discouraging. I needed that money to live on for another 2 weeks! I saw how much i lacked faith when this happened. I knew God could provide, but my initial reaction when this happened was to panic. I decided to stop worrying and just pray and ask that God would provide. And He did. My teammate gets a monthly stipend too and so we just shared it. I don't know how it has lasted as long as it has, but God has really multiplied it and stretched it almost without our even realizing it. I appreciate those of y'all who have prayed for this situation as well. God is so good and so faithful.

As my teammate and i wrap up our work here, we ask that you'd be lifting up a couple classes that we are very strategically planning to share the message. On Wednesday, i'll be showing The Chronicles of Narnia movie to my two students who are sisters. I will also be giving them the book and explaining the message, the allegory, behind it. Also on Wednesday, my teammate will be sharing her story (t-mony) with one of her students. These are really great opportunities and chances for the message to clearly go out.

Also just keep our mental sanity in your prayers. I always get really anxious when i get ready to leave somewhere or finish something. I am having the same problems here. I couldn't tell you what i'm anxious about, but there's just a general sense of anxiety that is making me want to check out and stop focusing on the work here. If i ever needed to be concentrated on the work here, it is now. Thanks always for your prayers. See y'all soon!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Helloooooooo!

Just wanted to update everyone on how things went on Saturday night with the songs and such. It was amazing! I was able to bring all the lyrics to the songs i sang and i was able to sing a song in their language! Singing and speaking in their language is so important. They know English well enough, but not at the level where something i say or sing in English can really connect with them. They knew exactly what this other song meant and i think (and hope) that it really stuck with them. It also opened doors for me to bring my guitar back again and sing more songs! I am so excited! Maybe the coolest thing that happened was that the 9 year old sister, as i was leaving, asked me if i knew any Britt Nicole songs. She said she really likes Britt Nicole! Britt Nicole is a C singer and i thought it was really strange that this girl had heard of her, much less liked her or listened to her at all. I am so excited that this door has already been opened! This could bring some awesome opportunities for me to explain the lyrics to her and since she already likes her music, she will continue to hear it and continue to remember what it means! Awesome!!!!

Besides that, not much has been going on. The last few days have been holidays over here (i feel like they have waaaay more holidays than we do) so i haven't been teaching and i've really been bored out of my skull. Today i start teaching again, so i'm really thankful for that. Our d-ship group is going great! We're starting to wrap up and talk about how now that i have taught them, it is their job to go and teach others. We're still memorizing Psalm 19 and i am so proud of the progress they've made and their committment to keep going. I keep Asking that they would be reminded of it every day and that they would see some way to apply it to their lives. I told one of the girls the other day that she will never regret putting His word into her heart and mind!

Thanks for praying for me! I need it these last few weeks as i try to finish strong. Col. 4:2-6

Thursday, November 11, 2010

great opportunity!

Hello Again!

A wonderful opportunity has just opened up that I want y'all to know about so you can be praying about it! I told y'all in my last blog that my students loved the song "New" that I let them listen to, and when they found out I played guitar, they wanted me to bring my guitar to their house and the play that song for them. I did last night and they loved it so much that they asked me to bring it back and play more songs for them. I told them that most of the songs I knew were about JC and that they probably wouldn't know any of them. They weren't phased at all by the subject of the songs and they asked if i could print out the lyrics and bring them so they could learn them! WHAT?!?!? Not only did they ask me to bring these songs in their house, they asked me to leave the words with them! What an amazing opportunity! I am currently in the process of selecting strategic songs that they will like but also will clearly present the Message. I also know a song about JC in their language, which is even better. Please be lifting up this awesome opportunity that I will have on Saturday.

Everything else is going well. We are having open doors with all of our students, but this family seems especially open. Thanks again for your encouragement and prayers for me. I will continue to need your prayers this month as i wrap up the work here (it feels like i just started). Thanks! Love you all!

Erin

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

I just realized that somehow all of my last blog didn't get posted. Sorry. Hopefully y'all got the picture of what i was saying. Haha.

We are continuing to have open doors with several of our students over here. The two sisters that i have mentioned several times are proving to be proabably the most interested students that we have. Every class we have with them (we have class with them 3 times a week) they have some kind of new question or we are able to get into some kind of good conversation. This is so exciting! On Monday we had a class where we talked about music and i specifically chose a few songs to listen to that i thought would bring up some good conversations. We listened to the song "New" by Bethany Dillon; they loved the song, but were kind of confused by the lyrics. They asked to know what the song meant. I was able to explain to them that the song was a prayer, that she was thanking God for making her new. I think they found this very interesting as they don't have this concept in their faith. They begged me to give them the song, so i'm going to tonight. Just Ask that everytime they listen to the song they will remember what it means. Their mother the other night also started asking questions and my teammate was able to engage in a really good conversation with her. This was surprising to both of us as we haven't seen any interest in her before. God is really working. We are also starting to teach a new family, and had the first class last night. We were worried that it was kind of late in the game to start a new class, but my teammate assured me last night that they are very interested in what we have to say and that even in the first class she had some great opportunities with them. This is nothing short of a miracle. Keep praying for our other two students as well.

Our d-ship group is going really well. The girls are still full of really good questions and are really interested in learning. We faced some problems with them when we had to deal with some of the stuff that happened at the sleepover we had last month, but we are beyond it now and i am really proud of them. Keep praying for them. They are putting themselves into a lot of bondage just with the stuff they put into their minds. This week we are going to talk about media, so pray that they would choose to listen to the truth instead of the lies the world gives.

Finally, just pray against discouragement for my teammate and i. Pray that we would have peace and be rested, and pray that we would be "bold enough in Him to speak as we should." I was hit the other day by the reality of Col. 1:6 over here. It is absolutely true and is being lived out before my eyes. Keep praying. You might not see the results, but you can trust that God is at work.